Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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JNO. P. GRACE MAKES ATTACK ON GOVERNOR! V PART OF STATEMENT IS UNFIT. TO PUBLISH. Accuses Governor of Immorality and Corrupt Connection With Southern Kailway. (Columbia State). ^Spartanburg, July 30.?In' his Toom at the Glenn Springs hotel tonight John P. Grace, mayor of Charleston, and a member of Gov. Cole. L. Blease's / staff, dictated the following statement: "I have read Gov. Blease's release to me, if I may so call it, under "which I now feel at liberty to make the two statements to which I referred in an 1?"* *? ?Ion* Tv?<rKt T ny\_ interview givtru1 uui icwi m6uu x uutic? he says: 'I have never made a confidant of John P. Grace in any manner, shape or form.' This only j confirms what I said to the effect that | I did not regard the conversation as j - confidential and it removes the last ] scruple that I might have in the mat- j ter. I therefore now state that dur-! ing a conversation in Charleston, I while Gov. iJlease was m a very convivial mood, he saw fit to direct his thoughts along the lines of some of his experiences in matters so delicate that I will expect the public to judge of their meaning when I say that women was the topic. ******** * "As I said in my interview yesterday, it seems to me that a man who Willi auvii vauuicu CJ. L4V4 av X ?, j I takes to occupy this role should at least begin* by being able to show that he had lived a life compatible with such claims. "Gov. Blease, by all sorts of oblique insinuations, has created the impression that Judge Jones' private life in reference to the colored race is not / what it should be. I am not in a! position to say anything as to that, either pro or con; but unless Gov. Blease told me a lie, which is, of course, not improbable, judged by this one episode, his is certainly not what j it should be, and I have heard many, many rumors to the effect that there are other more flagrant cases. The only one, however, of which I know is the one which he -told me himself. The Southern Railway. "Second. I have also said that I would prove Gov. Blease was guilty of j corrupt connection' with the Southern | railway. This I have also from his j own lips and the best of my recollection is that it was in the same conversation. ""We had been talking of the pri-! mary through which he had just passed and about the primary in general and its operations in our State. I told him that he could never have been elected eovernor but for the primary system. He admitted that, but replied very contemptuously about the primary in general. He said, 'For instance, you people (meaning the people of South Carolina) believe that you elected a railroad commissioner the other day/ I said, "Yes, I knew I "worked very hard to elect McDuflSe Hamntnn.' He said: 'Well, who did ' you think you were working for?' or i Bometking to that effect and I told ihim of course for McDuffie Hampton. He said: 'Well, that's exactly where you're badly mistaken.' He said: 'Why x you were working for the Southern railway and you didn't know it, but I know it, for I have every reason to J know it' I said: 'Well, how is that?' He said: 'Why I practically paid the campaign expenses of McDuffie Hamp- I ton out of money furnished to me by ?1 ? 4-V? a*v-? ' the Soutnern railway anu &<t vc cuciu vouchers signed by McDuffie Hampton for the amount.' "He said, moreover: 'I was charged also with the duty of wet-nursing him through the whole campaign.' He said: 'You know he's a terrible drinker, in fact' He said, 'He's a drunkard, and I had a hell of a time.' "I want the people of South Carolina to consider this last statement with the greatest discrimination of inrie-ment. What does it mean? The # ~ ? o railroad commission is established for the purpose of standing between the people and the extortions of the railroads. They are practically judicial officers and upon their decrees rest infinitely more of the interests of the people than any occasional decision of the supreme court in litigation between the railroads and individual suitors. When the railroad commission decides it decides perhaps to the extent of millions of dollars at one time and it can decide either for or against the people. " 'Gov. Blease has insinuated that his cousin, Ben Abnev, has been using Charlie Jones as a megaphone through which he could reach the ears of the supreme court. He has never produced any proof of this, and it amounts to an impeachment of our "whole judiciary if he is a good witi ness, a credirable witness upon that point, about which after all he does not profess to know anything of his own knowledge then 100 times more or so is he a good witness in respect to a matter of corruption in which he was the stakeholder. "Recollect he had been elected governor after a campaign in which he had posed as the people's friend, the 1 * ~ft V. J r%4- 4-Vi r\ trArV ann-corporauun ixictu auu at iuc >uj time when he was making his hypocritical speeches against the corporations he was doling out money in driblets to a common drunkard for the. Southern railway so that it might get at least one man on the railroad commission. "Perhaps he could tell whether or not he is doing the same thing in this campaign so that they might get another. The Blease Interriew. "And now as to Blease's character istic interview, 'I am very giaa inarhe has spoken at such length and that he has again lost his head because he invariably tells lies when he does so and lies that are easily detected. I will take them up seriatim.' i "He says, in speaking of me: 'I knew that he opposed me in the first I primary two years ago and I have j never believed that he supported me or even voted for me in the second I yilLLlCLk J "This of course he knows is a lie, and fortunately for me the proof of it is in writing. Not only did I support him before and in the first primary, but I wrote the strongest kind of editorials which were sent to him and copied in some of the few State papers mat were suppunmg xxiiu, n I mistake not, in the Newberry Herald and News, for one. "I am at Glenn Springs and have not access to my letter flies, but I remember distinctly receiving a very appreciative letter from him thanking me most cordially for this support? thaf in the second nrimarv. More over everybody in Charleston knows as they knew at the time, that it was practically thfough me in the first primary that he got the votes that "I had been entreated to support McLeod and in supporting Blease I went hostile to the overwhelming sentiment of Charleston and all its political leaders, including his friend, Capt. Martin, who supported McLeod ?? Via mall IrnnTre: xvuv t* "I was severely blamed by the people of Charleston for this and it operated seriously against me in my subsequent caanpaiSE for mayor, but so clearly did Blease himself understand the situation that immediately after the first primary he sent a man to Charleston and it was through him acting in direct communication with him by telephone with Blease at my office that all arrangements and conditions for the second primary were made. And I am satisfied that when I go to Charleston I will be able to dig up the -original stenographic notes of my stenographer, taken down over the long distance telephone in respect to wrhat Blease would do for Charleston if we elected him and which I at once made the basis for the campaign against Featherstone. In fact, when I get back to Charleston I will make this lie of his perfectly clear. The Staff Appointment. "I have told before about my appointment upon his staff. I went into : it in detail under oath in my testimony before the investigating committee. Here is what I then said: "TToxcaif?- '.Tnhn. T want, to express to you the gratitude I feel for what you have done. I want to give you an appointment on my staff, one to each of the original Blease counties,' and he said: '.Charleston is one,' and he said: 'I want to ask you to serve on my staff.' I said: 'Governor, that does'nt appeal to me at all. I never 'have been inclined in the direction of 'display, brass buttons, etc.' I said: 'It i really would be distasteful to me from that standpoint' And I said: ; tiitto if tn cnnw rvnA pise.' said: j'Xo, I want you to have it.' I also j instinctively felt that I did not care to have so great a political debt to any extent paid with a military uniform. I felt it might lessen a real claim I might have on him at some time, thinking always for a political angle which is sometimes characteristic. He said; 'You take this.' He said 'That does not mean that I feel it is adequate to express my gratitude because I intend hereafter, while I am governor, to consult you finally and conclusively on all questions concerning Charleston and what you say goes. And as to appointments, no one can be appointed unless you say yes.' I | said: 'That is all right, but I do not ; deserve quite that much.' He said: 'Yes, you do.' "In the presence of others he repeated the same thing. He p-t me on the staff. I got a notice to come up to Columbia. I told him I appreciated it I was measured and the uniform f was shipped and stands in the original express package in my office dust coated. I think a recital of the above will show what I thought of his staff appointment. "As to his statement that I>have never been in the mansion but one time that also is a lie and he knows it. I do not myself know exactly how many times I was there, but several tirnw at nnv rate, and particularly v* V w?v - , _ when he begged me to come to th( governor's reception which I did. The Game Rooster. "The incident of the game roostei I remember well. He says I came t< get a fine game cock which he gav< me and also to request him to ap point my orotner 10 a position m caw war came on with. Mexico. "In the first place he never knew h< had a game cock until I got on on< occassion to the mansion. It may hav< been the time- when I did go with m: brother who is a graduate of Wes Point, and who has ever since beei a lieutenant and is now a first lieu tenant in the army stationed in th< Philippines. It was a perfectly nat jural request for me to make of oni (under such, deep obligations to m< and for one to whom I am most ten derly attached, but it was not to ge a position in the army. "Of my own belief that Blease woul< give any preference, to him when i was the easiest thing in the world fo: Blease to do it, I asked Blease if In would not designate him under som< act which permitted him to designat* to the federal government the officer! ' - - ? AT* ? Art wrvlirtn t+s\rri in cnarge 01 me ouuiu uaivnua itgt ments. "If it was on this occasion, and I an almost sure that it was not, but upoi whatever occasion it was, I recall tha when I was about to go Blease aske< me if I liked game chickens. I tolc him that I did very much. He said: 'Well. I have a game cock that waj sent to me a few days ago by a mar who said that he was sending the bes' cock in South Carolina and I don'1 want it and I will give it to you.' I "I took it and have it yet. But ir connection with this visit, if it was the visit when my brother was there witt me I distinctly remember this incidem ?and, it seems to me it throws a flooc of light on whether or not he trust \/U XXXV/ "About this time there was a greai deal being said about the dispensary and Blease's corrupt connections with it?particularly the charge made b5 Felder. The "T. B * Letter. "He said to me: 'I have something in my pocket that I want to show you and I want to get your judgmenl | upon it.' He went down in his coai ! pocket and pulled out a letter anc handing it to me, said: 'Read that.' I' was none other than the now famous Letter signed 'T. B.' alleged to hav< been written by Felder to 'Hub' Evans in which it was proposed that 'Hub Evans and Felder organize some gi gantic scheme in connection with th< old State dispensary. ^ a tViic; lpffpr T recalled ; J. i^au *Vv * - ? scene at Wright's hotel the night be fore his inauguration. It was the firs real insight I had ever had into Bleas< and the atmosphere in which he mov ed, and I think I can say that withou exception it is about the natiest rec ollection in my life. "It was a grand carouse and I re J member that 'Hub' Evans said to me 'John, I am going to call on you som day, because,' he said, 'you're just th> man I want.' He then went at lengtl . into his approval of the way in whic] I had won the- Mordecai-O'Neill wil case, which was at that time stirrinj through the newspapers. "He said: 'I am going to want yoi to take charge of all this dispensar; , mess, and in that connection I jus want to tell you one thing: I've go ! one letter that's going to put Felde , dut of business.' "The first thing that occurred to me therefore, when the governor showei me this Felder letter was how in th world he could be in possssion of : letter which 'Hub' Evans was de pending upon to stand between hir and the State of South Carolina in th efforts of the S ^e to collect hundred i of thousands of dollars. "It seemed to me that it was a mos incomprehensible and anomalous po sition for Blease to be in and I coul< ; draw but one inference from it: Tha in the fight then waging he had tjakei the side of those who were fightin; South Carolina, of which he was th governor, and he was In possessioi of the main evidence which the ene mies of South Carolina were relyin; upon for their defense. I read ove , the letter carefully, not once, bu twice, and handed it back to him. "It r seems to me, therefore, tha considering tlie fact that Blease neve +r>no+.ori mp "ho nprtflinlv had confide< to me the gravest of secrets which wish to say I faithfully kept, neve: mentioning the letter until it after . A r r j wards came out in regular course. . I "He says the reason why he never j ' trusted me was because my 'eyes were set too close together' in my head. Of course I can not pass judgment upon ; my own countenance and what it im> ports. Xor. am I a phrenologist. I : reioice. however, to know that he is r and that he approves of the science I and of this method of judging men. 7 "It adds great confirmation to the ; theory of Detective Burns, who, in like manner, declares that as soon as he saw a photograph of Blease he r knew he was a crook, because his ears ) were lower than his eyes. I prefer to 3 take Burns' judgment, however, in . these matters, for the reason that 3 whereas Burns is an expert in observing and dealing with crooks, Gov. s Blease is only distinguished for being a a crook himself. a "It gives me great consolation, howj ever, to know that if Blease never t trusted me thousands of others have, i "I oelieve that I can truthfully say - that go wherever you will, inquire 3 of whomsoever you may, and especial - ly of those who have fought me the 3 hardest and the' bitterest in the com3 munity where I was raised, where I - 'have handled immense interests, t where not once but hundreds of times I could have sold out people and j causes, and they will all tell you the t same story, that however much we r hate him, as fiercely as we fight him, 3 wo have got to acknowledge that he i is ar honest and a truthful man. 3 "As against this, go wherever you 3 will, ask whomsoever you may and - particularly not those who hate and, fight him but those who profess to ad1 mire and certainly do fight for him, 1 and with one accord they will say ^ I that we know Blease is an unmitigat, j ed liar and that his honesty and integ j ritv have been challenged and suspect, ed at every cross roads in South Car, olina. 5 x "So it comes down, after all, to a i j. J question of whom will the people o? t; South Carolina believe, Blease or i Grace?" J GRACE SEEKS "COME BACK* AFTER HIS "FALL DOWN." j Challenges Governor to Release Him From Confidence?Promises Revelations. t r Glenn Springs, July 29.?Mayor John P. Grace, of Charleston, -who is r spending a weel; here, tonight challenged Governor Cole. L. Blease to release him from the confidence placI r | ed in him while they were on friendly 51 terms and stated that if the governor '{would publicly state that he (Grace) ^ was free to tell any the things he j wanted to, he would reveal facts that t j would "nauseate the people of South , j Carolina." Here is the statement in k | full as made by the mayor of Char'! leston: 31 >! "I have watched with great interest . i the plan of campaign developed by 3 Blease. I find that it consists of two main elements, notwithstanding the l many collateral questions that have arisen. These elements are: t "First, he has sought to make it ap -n- -a. 1- - I_ AT- i g | pear mai ne is ljuc trAyuiiciiu ui ?un.c - supremacy In South 'Carolina. How11 ever ludicrous this assumption is, on - : the face of It, there it one feature of I it as yet undisclosed which would - | make it not only ludicrous, but highly : ! hypocritical. It seems to me that a ejman who with such vaunted audacity ei undertook to occupy this role should ti at least begin by being able to show 1 that he had lived a life compatible I with such claims. % "I am prepared to say, measuring "? r-li? if,. my woras very careiuiijr, mat, n .an. li Blease will release me from the confiy dential character of any communicat tion which he might have confided to t me during the short term of our more r or less friendly relationship, I shall be very glad to tell one little story that ought to be enough to nauseate the a white people of South Carolina, I do +.V.?v^ V +>irif >1 r> -nr/Mi Irl +Tl OTPfl f tPT* I 0 11w l lllilliy ma u vt uuxu kui va vv*& wv? I a ! have the effrontery at a public meet- j - ing to tell one of his questioners that j a he ought to crawl off and wait until e night comes and then go around and s see his 'nigger sweetheart.' "Second. The second line of his att tack on Judge Jones is that he, Judge - Jones, has occupied a corrupt and 1 venal relationship with great corporaf firms. ?Der.iallv with the Southern j i railroad. Again, if Mr. Blease will reg lease me as above set forth, I shall be e. glad to tell the people of South Caroa lina exactly what Blease with his own j - lips told me in reference to his corrupt j sr connection with the Southern railway ! I r during and after his last campaign,1 t when he was charged with certain du- ; tips ;ind rpsnonsibilities and the nav- ! t ment of certain money corruptly in j r the interest of the Southern railway. I "I have said that I would be glad to I be released from the confidential charr acter of these communications. As a - matter of fact, it was not at the time y - Glassware! " * ? 1 1 1 . fcvery Housekeeper neeas | plenty of Glassware, and ] * she can get what she wants ! I at the Book Store at a very I reasonable price. 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